Hurricane Sandy Reconstruction

Hurricane Sandy ReconstructionLocation: New York / New Jersey, United States

In the closing days of October 2012, Hurricane Sandy carved a path through the Caribbean before moving up the Atlantic and turning inland at New Jersey, striking many coastal towns. The storm moved north and created a storm surge that devastated the New York/New Jersey Metro area. The event caused major damage and loss of life.

Architecture for Humanity’s reconstruction plan focuses on communities with the greatest need for design and construction services. We believe in rebuilding sustainably and more resiliently to protect these areas from future storms. This program will focus on restoring school sports facilities, and aiding small business and small building owners, as they represent the most affected populations in the region.

Some outstanding activity was seen in the Sandy program last month. The ReNew Schools program commenced construction at two of the schools; while our Restore the Shore program went out to bid and launched a new initiative.

From the Field: Restore the Shore team continues conversation with Seaside Heights

On the morning of the first Wednesday in April, the Restore the Shore team arrived at Seaside Heights to find it buzzing with energy as the municipality started its preparations for the upcoming Spring/Summer seasons. The team was excited to participate in a day full of meetings and site observations.

February was blistering cold and snowy, but the Sandy Team kept things warm and exciting with a 3-day event in Red Hook, New York, community meetings in New Jersey and planning meetings on the Jersey Shore. With less than 19 days left until Spring, we can't wait for the snow to melt and finalize the design phase of our projects.

On January 23rd and 24th in Orlando, Florida the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) convened a group of architects, educators, engineers, manufacturers and disaster experts from across the nation, including Architecture for Humanity, to discuss resilient design strategies at the North-South Design Charrette.

On Saturday February 8th, the second edition of the Sandy Design Help Desk commenced at Red Hook Volunteers in Red Hook, Brooklyn. For three days, 28 volunteers worked with more than a dozen clients to provide guidance on over 20 buildings in Red Hook housing over 40 families and businesses.